Leadership Is About Their Brilliance, Not Yours

A note to young leaders.

It’s not all about you.

Jennie Jerome – later Lady Randolph Churchill, and mother of Winston Churchill – once dined on successive nights with two legendary British Prime Ministers: William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli.

The two men – bitter rivals and alternating Prime Ministers of late-19th-century England – were both renowned for their intellect and oratory.

When asked to describe her impressions of the two men, Jennie famously replied:

“After dining with Mr Gladstone, I left thinking he was the cleverest man in all of England. But after dining with Mr Disraeli, I left thinking I was the cleverest woman.”

Leadership isn’t about showcasing your brilliance. It’s about drawing out the brilliance in others.

So when you walk into a room – a meeting, an interview, a negotiation – resist the urge to impress. Instead, make people feel they matter.

Make them feel clever. Because when you do, you are.